Adjustable support for post-mounted lamps



Dec. 1, 1959 D. GLADSDEN ETAL ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR POST-MOUNTED LAMPS Filed March 1, 1954 FIG.

INVENTOR DAVID GLADSDEN LESTER GLADSDEN BY /afmw W ATT RNEY United States Patent() ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR POST-MOUNTED LAMPS David Gladsden and Lester Gladsden, Philadelphia, Pa. Application March 1, 1954, Serial No. 413,222

` 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-177) This invention relates to an adjustable support for post-mounted lamps.

Outdoor lamps used both for functional and ornamental purposes are frequently mounted on vertical posts or similar upright supports. The posts may be made of wood, i'n which case they are usually solid except for a longitudinally extending hole or groove for an electric conduetor. They may also be made of tubular metal, such as aluminum tubing. Instead of la post, whether of wood or metal, a wrought iron framework is sometimes employed, consisting, for example, of four vertically extending bars which are maintained in spaced relationship by means of suitable braces or brackets. In all cases, however, means must be provided to securely mount at the top of the supporting post or framework an outdoor type of lamp, generally containing an electric light bulb and conductors connecting said bulb to a suitable source of electric current. Since the various posts and uprights are not strictly uniform in their transverse or cross-sectional dimensions at their lamp-supporting ends, and since the lamps themselves are not precisely uniform in the dirnensions of their collars which engage said posts or uprights, the problem frequently arises as to the means and method of securely mounting the lamps in place.

The important Vobjectvof this invention is the provision of an adjustable lamp support,rsaid support being disposed between the lamp and its supporting post or framework. This adjustable support consists of two components which are secured to each other in the manner hereinafterdescribed. One `component engages the supporting post or uprightframe.. Thegother component engages the collar of the lamp. The manner in which the first component engages thesupporting post or upright frame depends uponv the nature of said supporting post or frame. For example, if the supporting post is made of wood, said first component maybe secured thereto by the very simple expedient o f screwing it down to said post. Holes are provided in said first component to accommodate a plurality of screws for this purpose. If the supporting post is made of tubular aluminum or the like, said first component may be secured thereto by means of set screws or similar means. If the supporting member is a wrought iron framework, then said first component may be welded thereto by conventional welding means.

The rst component of said adjustable support is large enough to accommodate the largest of these supporting posts or upright frames. Consequently, it is also large enough to accommodate the smaller posts and upright frames. More particularly, said first component of the adjustable support herein claimed comprises an inverted cup-shaped member made, preferably, of stamped and drawn sheet steel. It constitutes, in eiect, a cap which covers and enclosesthe upper end of the supporting post or frame. Consequently, it not only serves to support a lamp on said post or frame but it also serves to protect the upper end of the supporting post or frame against the elements. This is especially important where the post is Patented Dec. l, 1959 made of wood and there is a hole extending through it for the wire conductors.

The second component of the adjustable lamp support is a split internal sleeve which is adapted to lit into the lamp collar. This split sleeve is secured to the iirst component, namely, the cap, at predetermined points, but the ends of said split sleeve, along the split, remain free from said cap. The split sleeve is made, preferably, of sheet steel curved to substantially cylindrical form. The free ends of said split sleeve may be bent outwardly to increase the effective diameter ofsaid sleeve. It will be understood at this point that the diameter of the split sleeve, before its ends are bent outwardly in the manner aforementioned, corresponds in its external dimensions to the internal diameter of the smallest lamp collar. Consequently, the split sleeve may lit into said small collar and also into any of the larger collars with which such lamps may be provided. In order to adjust said split sleeve to the larger collars, all that need be done is to bend the free ends of said sleeve outwardly as above indicated and said split sleeve will thereby be sufficiently enlarged to resiliently engage the larger lamp collars. It is this resilient engagement which holds the lamp collars, and thereby holds the lamps themselves, in secure engagement with the supporting posts or upright frames.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is an elevational view of a conventional Wooden lamp post and a conventional lamp mounted thereon by means of the adjustable support herein claimed.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through another type of lamp support, namely, a metal upright frame and also showing the adjustable lamp support herein claimed mounted thereon.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the adjustable lamp support herein claimed.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that this `invention may be applied to a'conventional wooden lamp post 14B and to a conventional lamp 12. A longitudinal hole 14 is provided in the wooden post to accommodate a metal tube or pipe 16 which contains an electrical conductor or cord 18. This conductor is, of course, connected in conventional manner to a suitablesource of electric current. The wooden post 10 may be supported in conventional manner in a concrete block in the ground or it may simply be inserted into a hole formed in the ground and the earth then tamped down to hold the post securely'in place.

Lamp 12 is provided with a conventional base collar 20 which may assume the form of an inverted cup or the like. It consists of a cylindrical wall 22 and a disc-shaped cover plate 24. The yframe of the lamp is supported on said base collar as is conventional. A hole is provided in the center of the disc-shaped plate 24 to accommodate tubular member 16 and a pair of nuts 26 and 28 on said tubular member secure the same to said disc-shaped plate 24. At the upper end of tubular member 16 is a socket 30 which supports an electric light bulb 32. Electrical conductor 18 is, of course, connected to said socket 30 so as to energize the bulb in the usual manner. Thus far, what has been described is purely conventional and purely illustrative of thevarious types of wooden lamp posts and the like and the various kinds of lamps which are used in association therewith.

It will be noted in Fig. 5 that the adjustable support 34 herein claimed comprises two component parts: A cap 36 and a split sleeve 38. Both members are made, preferably, of sheet metal, such as sheet steel or sheet aluminum or the like. Preferably, cap 36 is stamped and drawn to shape and said shape is, as the drawing clearly shows, that of an inverted, shallow cup. There is a cylindrical side Wall 40 and a disc-shaped top Wall 42. Holes 414 are formed in said disc-shaped top wall 42 in order to accomodate a plurality of screws 46 for alixing the adjustable support to the top of post or the like. A hole 43 is provided in the center of wall 42 to accommodate tube 16. Although this cup-shaped member 36 is made, preferably, of stamped and formed sheet metal, it will be appreciated that a casting of this shape, whether a sand casting or a die casting, and whether made of cast iron or cast aluminum or any other suitable metal, will perform equally well. Cap 36 is of a size to accommodate a cover and consequently to protect the upper end of a conventional post 10 or the like.

Split sleeve 33 is also made, preferably, of sheet steel or aluminum or the like bent or curved to substantially cylindrical shape. It is secured to disc-shaped wall 42 of cap 36 b-y any conventional means, such as welding. It

will be noted that the welds '48 secured the main body of said split sleeve to cap 36, but the ends 38a and 38h of said split sleeve remain free from said cap. This does not mean that these ends are not touch the cap but rather that they are not to be welded or otherwise secured thereto. Consequently, these ends 38a and 38b may be bent outwardly from their normal positions. This is an important featureof the present invention.

When the basecollar of lamp 12 is mounted upon and around split sleeve 38, it is necessary that said split sleeve securely engage said collar. It will be understood at this point that split sleeve 38, in its normal unbent condition, is of such external diameter that it will enter a relatively small base collar 20. If the t between said split sleeve and said base collar is a tight t, the lamp will securely be held in place. But if the tit between said split sleeve and said base collar is relatively loose, all that' need be done to insure a tight tit is to bend the ends 38a and38b of said split sleeve outwardly a suflcient distance to resiliently engage the base collar 20 of the lamp. These outwardly bent ends of the split sleeve will, in effect, enlarge said split sleeve suciently to securely engage a relatively large base collar 20.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, it will be seen that an upright frame 50 may be employed in connection with the adjustable supportherein claimed, to securely hold and support a lamp. This upright frame 50 consists of a plurality of metal bars 52, generally wrought iron bars, maintained in spaced relationship by means of braces 54. Since the adjustable support 34 may be made of sheet steel, it is clear that it may be welded to the top ends of bars 52 by means of welds 56. This is purely illustrative of the various means and methods that may be employed to secure the adjustable support 34 to the top of said upright frame 50. All of the other elements which this upright frame would involve and require are purely conventional. For example, the lower ends of the bars of this upright frame may be embedded in concrete. A tubular member 16 may extend through said upright frame to carry a suitable wire conductor or wire conductors to the lamp. The adjustable support may be employed on upright frame 5t) in precisely the same manner as it is employed in connection with post 10.

The foregoing is illustrative of a preferred form of this invention. It will be understod that this preferred form may be modified and other forms may be provided within the broad spirit of the invention and the broad scope of the claims.

We claim:

An adjustable support for supporting an outdoor lamp having a base collar on a vertical post, said adjustable support comprising a cap of relatively large diameter and a split sleeve of relatively small diameter, said cap consisting of a horizontal disc and an annular flange projecting downwardly from the peripheral edge of said dise, said split sleeve being substantially cylindrical in shape, the split in said sleeve extending longitudinally and extending the full length of said sleeve parallel to the longitudinal central axis of the sleeve, said split sleeve being attached along only a portion of its lower edge to the' top of said disc concentrically therewith and with said annular flange, leaving an annular portion of said disc exposed externally of said split sleeve and formingr an annular shoulder, said split sleeve being smaller in, diameter than the base collar of an outdoor lamp to bei placed thereon so as to be adapted to t into said collar, j said annular shoulder being adapted to support such base collar, at least one of the edges of said sleeve defined by said split being free from said disc and being bendable outwardly to frictionally engage the base collar of said-lamp in order to mount such lamp on said sleeve, said bendable edge of the sleeve adapting the sleeve to accommodate such base collar irrespective of variations in the diameter thereof, said cap being adapted to be mounted upon andy to enclose the top of a vertical post, the diametrcal dimension of said cap being suiciently large to enable it to accommodate such post irrespective ot diametric variations therein, and means for securing the disc of said cap to the top of said post.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 279,576 Leaycraft June 19, 1883 579,968 Fallows Apr. 6, 1897 647,873 Perry Apr. 17, 1900 1,775,557 Hollingsworth Sept. 9, 1930 1,778,823 Anderson Oct. 2, 1930 2,363,265 Schatzmau Nov. 2l, 1944 2,610,012- Mackey Sept. 9, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 372,663 Great Britain May 12, 1932 432,739 Great Britain Aug. l, 1935 

